An adsorbent chemical is ready for another round of testing.

Take some regular old acrylic knitting yarn, modify it with a special kind of adsorbent chemical, and wave it around in the ocean. After some time, the yarn will pick up enough molecules of uranium that grams of yellowcake, the precursor to fuel used in nuclear reactors, can be made.

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced nearly $64 million in awards for advanced nuclear energy technology to DOE national laboratories, industry, and 39 U.S. universities in 29 states. In total, DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy selected 89 projects for funding for nuclear energy research, facility access, and crosscutting technology and infrastructure development.

The Philippines Department of Energy has submitted its recommendation to the President on the country's nuclear energy policy. The policy will include a decision on the future of the mothballed Bataan nuclear power plant.

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi was cited as saying by the Business World newspaper that he had "submitted the papers, the policy direction and the national policy proposal"

The New Jersey state legislature’s vote to pass legislation to preserve its nuclear fleet is pivotal — a move that doesn’t allow short term prices to dictate the long-term fate of a generation source that is both clean and has years to live.

The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) recently commended the passage of the $1.3 trillion federal omnibus spending bill, which includes approximately $1.2 billion for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) nuclear energy programs and $922 million for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

“We commend and thank congressional appropriators for their recognition that investment in nuclear energy technologies will deliver enormous benefits to our energy system, our environment, our workers and our national security,” NEI Vice President of Policy Development and Public Affairs John Kotek said.

With the world’s second-biggest proven reserves of oil, Saudi Arabia seems an unlikely aspirant to the nuclear-energy club. Yet the largest oil exporter plans to build at least 16 nuclear reactors over the next 25 years at a cost of more than $80 billion. The Saudis see atomic energy as a way to ease their dependence on finite fossil fuels. But they are also driven by competition with their rival Iran, which has multiple nuclear facilities. Whatever the motivation, the turn to nuclear power by Saudi Arabia, and several other countries in Middle East, raises the risk of a nuclear arms race in the most unstable part of the world.